Apr 28, 2026
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The Dutch Word for Walking Into the Wind
and Why It Changes Everything
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Love Netherlands
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Dear Netherlands,
The first thing you notice when you arrive in the Netherlands is how much of it is water. The second thing is how comfortable the Dutch are with it. They cycle past canals, they eat herring leaning over the side of a railing, they build cities below sea level and make them look effortless. It’s the quiet confidence of a country that knows exactly what it is.
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Image: Shutterstock
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In today’s email:
- The Dutch Word for Walking Into the Wind — and Why It Changes Everything
- At The Café — In de Wildeman — Amsterdam’s Quietest Beer Cathedral
- Around The Web — The Dutch Festival That Turns Maastricht Into a Different Country and more
- From Love Netherlands — Why the Dutch Only Make Pea Soup When It’s Cold Enough to Skate
- Dutch Food You Will Love — Pannenkoeken — The Dutch Pancake That Eats Like a Meal
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The Dutch Word for Walking Into the Wind — and Why It Changes Everything
👉 Read the full story
There is a Dutch word with no direct English translation. It means to walk outside into a strong wind — deliberately. Not to get somewhere. Just to feel it. Uitwaaien (pronounced roughly out-vai-en ) describes something the Dutch do without thinking about it. When the sky turns grey and the wind picks up off the North Sea, they lace up their shoes and head outside. It is not a wellness trend. It is not a fitness plan. It is something older and more practical — a habit built into daily life in a country where wind is simply part of the weather. What Uitwaaien Actually Means The word breaks into two parts. “Uit” means out, and “waaien” means to blow in the wind. Together, they name an act that most cultures perform but almost none have named. Uitwaaien is walking into open air and into wind, with no destination and no plan, until your head feels clear again. It is not a hike. It carries…
👉 Read the full story
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At The Café
In de Wildeman — Amsterdam’s Quietest Beer Cathedral
In de Wildeman is hidden down an alley off the Nieuwendijk, a former 18th-century distillery turned proeflokaal — a tasting room. The room is dark wood, low ceilings, brass taps, and a wall lined with hundreds of glass bottles. There’s no music. No televisions. The menu has more than 250 beers including 18 on tap, and the staff genuinely know which one to put in your hand based on what you’ve eaten that day. Order a Trappist, take a stool at the back bar, and listen to a city you thought you couldn’t escape.
👉 Visit the café
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Around The Web
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From Love Netherlands
The Netherlands has an unwritten rule about pea soup. Nobody voted on it. Nobody wrote it down. Every Dutch person simply knows: you make erwtensoep when it is cold enough to skate on the canals. Not a little chilly. Not November mild. Properly cold. Canal-freezing cold. That is the rule. What Is Snert? Dutch people do not call it erwtensoep at home. They call it snert . The name is blunt and honest, which suits the soup perfectly. Snert starts…
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Image: Shutterstock
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Dutch Food You Will Love
Pannenkoeken — The Dutch Pancake That Eats Like a Meal
A Dutch pannenkoek is the size of a dinner plate, thinner than an American pancake but thicker than a French crêpe, and it’s served as a full meal — savoury or sweet, never both. The classic order is a pannenkoek met spek (with bacon) drizzled in stroop. Children get them with apple and cinnamon. The pannenkoekenhuis tradition runs in old farmhouses and converted mills across the countryside, where you can sit at long tables and order a pancake the size of your face for the price of a sandwich. It’s the Sunday family lunch you’ll wish your grandmother had known about.
👉 Read the full story
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